Subjective Truth: Finding My Voice at Whitman

My whole life, I’ve really enjoyed two things: telling stories and making people laugh. Usually, the only people who are subjected to get to enjoy my comedic genius are my friends, family, and the occasional Twitter (or X) user. This is, of course, a travesty. 

When I came back to Whitman the fall of my sophomore year, I was determined to spread joy and laughter across campus. The only question was, how? Couldn’t a hilarious, beautiful and humble girl catch a break?

When it seemed all hope was lost, I received an email from the Whitman campus radio station–KWCW 90.5 FM–asking for DJs. I hurriedly filled out an application to broadcast my sidesplitting stories to the entire Walla Walla community on KWCW. 

After an agonizing three days of waiting, I received confirmation that my show, “Subjective Truths”, was going to be on KWCW! I was ecstatic… until I felt the pressure of writing an hour-long show of completely original content every week. It should have had me jumping out of my seat, after all it was my idea.

In no time, it was the day of my first show. Nearly shaking with nerves, I rode the elevator up to the studio in Reid Campus Center. With some kind words from the host of the show before mine–who also happens to be my housemate–I switched off the auto-DJ and started speaking into the void. I was so anxious that I texted a friend to check that I was actually broadcasting. 

As the show went on, I was getting encouraging texts from my friends who were listening. I really did start to shake, but it wasn’t from nerves. As I made jokes, I vibrated with excitement but my voice didn’t shake. I might have been spouting ridiculous nonsense, but it was my ridiculous nonsense. I finally had the chance to spread some joy in my community. I wouldn’t trade it for anything–not even the hours of sleep I lost writing the show. I even signed up to host another show during the fall semester of my junior year!

College is the perfect time to try new things and gain confidence. I’d always had a voice, but, at Whitman, I was finally able to project it to the world. If you would like to listen to my show–or any of the amazing others–on KWCW, you can check out the KWCW blog and click on “Listen Live!”

Zoe Perkins ’25 (she/her) is a Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse major from Hillsboro, Oregon. Every time Zoe has to write her major title, the lack of an oxford comma destroys a little bit of her soul.